WP7 Developer Contest – Win a Phone, Gift Card, and XDA Shirt!

XDA has a long history with Microsoft. Windows Mobile was the bread and butter of this site for our first decade– and still is for many of our members. Today, XDA’s Windows Phone 7-related forums are gaining traction in the short time that they’ve been up, and we expect that devices created from the Nokia-Microsoft partnership announced in February will only continue to increase interest in Microsoft’s new OS. Competition encourages innovation for the benefit of all of us that love smartphones.

Starting today, Microsoft is sponsoring a contest on XDA to promote WP7 app development. They are looking for XDA members to feature in their Windows Phone 7 Developer Heroes program, which profiles upcoming developers to give exposure to their work. This is a significant event that would never have happened a couple years ago–Microsoft’s relationship with our site has always been love-hate. Our ROMs and hacks sometimes annoyed them, but what’s clear is that XDA users are the early adopters that influence the phone choices of their friends and family. It’s fun to finally get that recognition. Plus, we get to give away a couple cool phones, in addition to gift cards, and spiffy XDA T-Shirts.

The contest is pretty simple: make and submit a unique WP7 app. If you do that, you will get a free XDA T-Shirt*. There are TWO grand prizes for the best applications. Each prize includes:

Download the Windows Phone SDK and create an amazing app. The only rules are that the app must conform to Microsoft’s certification requirements and must be your own work. To submit your app:

Create your own App Hub account and upload it. Then fill out this form and tell us about it so you can get your free shirt and be eligible for one of the two grand prizes.

XDA admins will nominate five finalists from all submissions. TWO of these will win a Grand Prize. One winner will be chosen by a popular vote by XDA members, and the other will be chosen by XDA admins.

We will be accepting submissions starting today and ending on June 30th. Finalists for the prizes will be announced soon after.

Need a little encouragement as you build Windows Phone 7 apps? Check out the Windows Phone Developer Heroes, showcased for their inspiring stories and admirable work in mobile development. Think you can do better? Submit your app to Marketplace today and get a chance to be the next Developer Hero!

HTC 10 (Unlocked)

Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge (Verizon) [SM-G935V]

Nexus 5 (Unlocked)

XDA Developers was founded by developers, for developers. It is now a valuable resource for people who want to make the most of their mobile devices, from customizing the look and feel to adding new functionality.Are you a developer?